During his tour at the opening of the magnificent Frankfurt opera house, in 1880, Emperor William I remarked, “I couldn’t permit myself this sort of thing in Berlin.” The citizens of Frankfurt had financed the opera house themselves, an initiative they repeated a century later when the building was almost completely destroyed during World War II. Reopened in 1981, the historic Alte Oper is one of the most important concert halls in Germany and features a prestigious and international schedule of events.